Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/516

 490 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mr. William Tennant Mortlock THE name of Mortlock has been long and honorably associated with the pastoral history of South Australia. The men who early set out to reclaim the inhospitable wilds of the Province deserve to have their names kept green in the minds of the people. Prominent in the ranks of pioneering pastoralists in South Australia was the late Mr. William Ranson Mortlock, who, just after the Province entered upon its swaddling- clothes era, helped to open up the great out-back country, then only trodden by the dusky inhabitants of the interior. The late Mr. Mortlock was a native of Cambridgeshire, England, and came out to South yustralia early in 1845, '" which year he took up a larofe tract of countrv in the Port Lincoln district. It was no light task to open up new country in those days, but there were strong, willing hands and stout hearts engaged in the work. Thrilling adventures and personal dangers enough were e,perienced by the daring pioneers. Mr. Mortlock increased his properties in after-years, and they thrived under his guidance. He bought the Mount Arden Station in 1863, and this proved a valuable adjunct to his pastoral possessions. He took a lively interest in the political affairs of his adopted country, and sat in the House of As.sembly as repre- sentative for Flinders for over 15 years. He died May 10, 1884., but the good work he began has been ably carried on by his son, Mr. W. T. Mortlock, who, during the Fifteenth Parliament of .South Australia, represented, as his father did before him, the Flinders electorate in the Lower House. William Tennant Mortlock was born in the Port Lincoln District in 1858. Primary education was imparted to him at St. Peter's College, Adelaide ; and later on he proceeded to Jesus College. Cambridge, where he finished his .scholastic training. Afterwards he read for the Law at the Inner Temple. Altogether he spent eight years in England, returning to his native shores in 1883. He then at once set to work to Hammer & Co., Photo